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This fantastic illustration of a Tyrannosaurus rex may have to be updated to include scaly retractable lips to cover those ferocious fangs.Illustration by Franco Tempesta, National Geographic

Discussion Ideas

New research suggests Tyrannosaurus rex did not have fangs. What are fangs?

Fangs are simply long, sharp teeth that protrude from an animal’s mouth.

In some animals, such as snakes or spiders, fangs are hollow and used to inject venom. Reptiles, such as dinosaurs and crocodilians, do not have hollow fangs and use their sharp, solid teeth for biting, holding, and tearing the flesh of their prey.

If T. rex didn’t have fangs, how did it terrorize the neighborhood?

It smiled. Those banana-sized teeth could still do all that damage, they were just hidden inside the dinosaur’s mouth, until it pulled back its lips.